I should start this post by noting that everyone I know, young and old, doesn’t get lunkhead NBC’s Last Call host Carson Daly’s appeal. Indeed, I’ve seen chimps with better TV charisma and good looks and interviewing skills. And yet NBC at the time was so delighted about hiring him just because he dated starlets and pop stars and smarmed MTV. So the network is more enthusiastic than ever now that Daly today announced that he is the first of the late night hosts returning to the air despite the ongoing writers walkout. He plans to resume taping Wednesday for new episodes that will begin airing next week. “He wanted to go back to support his staffers,” the network spokeswoman said. NBC has informed the non-writing staff of Daly’s show, as well as Jay Leno’s and Conan O’Brien’s, that they face layoffs at the end of this week unless the shows return to the airwaves. (Meanwhile, NBC is so desperate to get Leno back behind The Tonight Show deskthat it’s humiliating him with “vintage” episodes which should be destroyed, not aired.)

Tonight, the striking Writers Guild of America issued this statement of criticism: “We’re disappointed at Carson Daly’s decision to return to work. Mr. Daly is not a writer and not a member of the WGA, unlike other late-night hosts Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Kimmel, who have all resisted network pressure and honored our writers’ picket lines. We hope he’ll change his mind and follow the lead of the other late-night hosts.”

The late night shows have not been in production during the entire November sweeps. Since the repeats don’t generate the same ratings as original shows, the networks have to give sponsors free spots or “give backs” at a cost of millions. Ergo all the pressure from CBS and NBC and ABC on its late night hosts. So the fact that Dave, Jay, Conan, Craig and Jimmy — all members of the WGA, which Carson is not — have stayed out much longer than anyone thought would happen (especially in light of 1988) is a major concern to the networks and a major boon to the WGA.

But back to Daly. Today he’s also accused of setting up a “joke hotline” as a strike breaking effort — prompting the WGA to scold “We’re especially appalled at Mr. Daly’s call for non-Guild writers to provide him with jokes.” The Smoking Gun published an email purportedly from Daly detailing how he asked a small group of contacts to call in “suggested jokes” to a telephone hotline, noting that he would “play some, most, or all of your jokes on the air.” The bit, Daly stressed, was not meant to “make fun” of his striking writers. He added that his goal was to just “play a fun collage of random people trying to ‘help me out.'” The bit’s set-up, Daly wrote in his Sunday night e-mail was that “the devastating writers strike” led to “A TON of my friends and family…calling me, leaving messages, offering their help with jokes because they know that I don’t have any writers working and hosting a late night show without them will be nearly impossible for me.” It’s all online, barf bag not included.

53 Comments

Ben • on Nov 27, 2007 6:18 pm

Ok. Let me get this right. Carson Daly is NOT a writer…he’s NOT a member of WGA. Please tell me why he’s considered to by a scab and “crossing the picketline”? If you want to call it anything, it’s just bad manners.

dryology • on Nov 27, 2007 6:20 pm

yep. i received this email from someone on the show yesterday. what you squares don’t recognize is that it’s The CD! C DAZE! C fucking DALY. give a bro-ham a break, yoze.

John D. • on Nov 27, 2007 6:22 pm

Carson Daly? I’m sorry who is he? 1:30 AM Eastern Time? NBC? Who needs jokes when the show is a joke. I’m doing it for the crew? C’mon Carson. You should have asked for people to call in with excuses to help you justify crossing the line. Let me help you. “It’s not about the money.” “There’s a hungry artist trapped inside me and it has to eat.” Or, the best approach might be honesty. “I’m crossing the WGA picket line and scab writing because it’s all about me, I have no pride,I have no integrity, I have no dignity but most of all, I am desperately afraid to be off the air because, above all I have no talent.

Jonny NY • on Nov 27, 2007 6:36 pm

carson daly doing comedy…kinda like my dog running for president. i don’t get why NBC is backing Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan, either. they need to get a fresh voice like Joel McHale from The Soup or a talented writer/performer.

Thomas • on Nov 27, 2007 6:37 pm

GO CARSON!

Anonymous • on Nov 27, 2007 6:39 pm

I hate Carson he’s a no talent jerk but he’s doing the right thing here. Yes he’s getting publicity for himself but he’s also getting his crew and staff back to work. Leno should never have gone on strike. Letterman is at least paying his crew’s salaries until January. All these late night guys should go back to work. They aren’t really depriving their networks of any income because they get just as much for commercial time when they show the reruns.

They should only have stayed out two weeks and resumed new shows this week. If this isn’t settled by January they will all be back on the air they can’t stay out with the primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire upcoming. Daily Show should go back on the air next week as well. Jon could just show clips of each day’s news and if he can’t think of something funny to say he’s not worth all that much. Most of the clips are ironic and funny on their own. So props to Carson even though he’s still an arrogant no-talent putz.

Ted • on Nov 27, 2007 6:40 pm

Not that I’d ever want to defend the talentless, but just to play devil’s advocate, the email does seem to suggest that the intention wasn’t to scab… simply to do a bit (with, as he requests, terribly hacky jokes) that would then highlight just how important the writers are to his show.

Oh, lighten up! This is the same thing Letterman did when he came back a month after the 88 strike — a self effacing, gratuitous time-filler acknowledging his need for writers.

BINGO • on Nov 27, 2007 6:46 pm

What’s wrong with his dad calling that number to tell an F’ing knock knock joke? Carson isn’t in the guild. He’s not calling on ANYONE to write scripted material. People need to calm the F down and realize there are more important issues to debate about other than this strike.

Cynic • on Nov 27, 2007 7:04 pm

Wow, people are getting behind Carson. I’m shocked that anyone cares one way or the other. He’s not blessed with much talent and he’ll probably be replaced soon. This will hurt him in the end!

Nancy • on Nov 27, 2007 7:08 pm

and what is with the permanent dirt smudge where a lip or even a mustache would go?

what hypocrites • on Nov 27, 2007 7:09 pm

So let me get this one straight… It’s alright for series actors to continue doing their McShows, as long as they drop by the picket line for photo shoots during their lunch, it’s alright for some show runners to go back to producing work because it’s supposedly getting producers back to the table. But Carson, a non-wga member coming back to do his inconsequential show and put a crew of 75-100 back to work and pitching a hokey bit where he’s got to have his friends write jokes is the worst thing ever?

I really hope some of you, once a deal is done and the emotion of all this dies down, look back at some of the things you’ve written here and do a little self-examination.

Caitlin • on Nov 27, 2007 7:24 pm

Frankly, I could care less about CD and all these “it’s horrible!”/”get the fuck over it!” comments are giving me headaches. All I want for Christmas is the writers getting a fair deal and fast, Nikki.

That Carson Daly show is painful to watch even with his writing staff.

Carson is a no-talent cheese-dick who should be thankful he ever even got that gig.

I don’t think he should go back to work, but who the hell will notice if he did anyway?!

Anonymous • on Nov 27, 2007 7:50 pm

This isn’t news. Daly isn’t in the WGA. Get back to reporting on what matters – the progress of the talks!

Steve • on Nov 27, 2007 7:51 pm

Okay, so the bit is “look how much I need writers!” Simple question: how do you think Carson Daly’s writers feel about this bit?

Of course Carson himself is not a scab. He’s a jerk. Because if he’s hiring people to do any kind of writing, he is telling his writers, “F*** You.” So it’s actually pretty offensive that he wraps it up in a bulls**t self-effacing “look how much I need my writers” bit.

BTW, the bit is not simply bad jokes to make fun of. “Quicker jokes will work well as will ‘classic’ or ‘hacky’ ones OR if you’ve got a homerun, let ‘er rip.”

CD wants it all, baby!

Finally, save the comparisons to Johnny and Dave in ’88. Johnny waited two and half MONTHS, Letterman THREE and a half. Carson Daly waited a whole three weeks.

It’s his right to do it, sure, but come on. This ain’t right.

Anon writer • on Nov 27, 2007 8:01 pm

Jonny NY wrote: “they need to get a fresh voice like Joel McHale from The Soup”

Are you kidding me? You managed to find the one person in showbiz who is less talented than Carson Daly. Joel McHale’s “riffs” on The Soup are unfunny and usually incoherent. I’ve never seen someone so in love with himself in a city of people in love with themselves. That guy is the number one hack on the planet.

Satti • on Nov 27, 2007 8:02 pm

I’m not disappointed in the bit…it’s just a (bad) joke. I’m sad that Carson decided that for him the strike lasted a month.

Why did he stop his show in the first place? What has changed now?

Our cause was worth supporting, but only for a short period of time.

sick of sheep • on Nov 27, 2007 8:05 pm

Everyone seems to be accepting NBC’s argument that Carson Daly just wants to get his staff back to work. Trust me, this guy doesn’t give a crap about anyone but himself. I know people on that staff, and while they want to work, none of them will tell you that this is a good human.

Bonnie Garvin • on Nov 27, 2007 8:13 pm

The fact that Carson Daly isn’t a writer misses the point. The fact that he is a talentless bore also misses the point. What matters is that he is inviting others to scab by soliciting material. The fact that Daly also doesn’t understand why crossing a picket line is tantamount to scabbing is just another display of his ignorance. By taking this action Daly has shown a total disregard if not contempt for his own writing staff.

mackherron • on Nov 27, 2007 8:27 pm

Whoever said the networks are still making money for late night commercials is woefully short-sighted.
Because the hosts have stayed out in support of their writers, the late night shows have not been in production during the entire November sweeps, which is when commericial ad rates are set for the next three months. The lower ratings that repeats generate mean lower prices for commercials down the road and cost the networks millions. And if the shows don’t generate a certain guaranteed ratings number (set during the last sweeps period), the networks have to give the sponsors free spots or “give backs”, costing them even more millions. So, this is hardly no big deal. The fact that the hosts have stayed out much longer than anyone thought will ultimately settle this strike earlier rather than later. The irony of all this is that the late night writers were the first ones affected and the only writers who will never recover the income they lost.

ReelBusy • on Nov 27, 2007 8:33 pm

Carson Daly still has a show? Really? OK. Let him write his own material and scab up himself. He is a scab expert since he dated Tara Reid. Let Daly work, his dealer needs the money.

Walk The Line • on Nov 27, 2007 8:48 pm

Nikki is right, Carson Daly is a lunkhead. We had a show that we were going to pitch to NBC earlier this year but we figured they’d insist on having Carson be a part of it so we took it to another network and got picked up. The host of our show actually has talent and as soon as the strike is over we’re back up and running. In closing, a plea: please G-d don’t let Carson take over Conan’s show…

Fussy Protocol Droid • on Nov 27, 2007 9:12 pm

He’s a douchebag.

EdB • on Nov 27, 2007 9:14 pm

Seriously. Although he is a talentless, self-serving ass, I agree with the majority of posters. He isn’t WGA. It isn’t even newsworthy.